What we can do for you?
1. We can help you to apply for L-1A and L-2 visa stamps in your home country
If you are not in the United States now, you may apply for L-1A visa and your family may apply for L-2 visa at the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate in your home country. You must schedule an interview for visa applications at the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate. At the interview, you submit your well prepared visa applications and provide support evidence to prove that:
(1) You have an L-1A job offer;
(2) The job offer is from a US company;
(3) The job offer is supported by a pre-approved L-1A petition submitted by the US company;
(4) The US company is either a branch office, or a subsidiary company, or a parent company, or a sister company, of a foreign company;
(5) In the past 3 years immediately before the submission of the L-1A petition, you had worked for the foreign company in a managerial or executive capacity for at least 1 year;
(6) The job duty at the US company is in managerial or executive nature, such as working as CEO, general manager, vice general manager, chairman of the board of directors, and the like;
(7) You are qualified for the offered job by virtue of experience and other qualifications;
(8) The US Company has sufficient financial ability to pay you the offered salary.
2. We help you to apply for L-1A/L-2 status in the United States
If you are in the United States under a non-immigrant status such as B-1, B-2, F-1, F-2, H-1, H-4, E-2, R-1, R-2 now, in order to change your status to L-1A, you must be offered a job by an employer in the United States (the US company), and the employer must file with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) an L-1A petition for you. Your spouse and kids in the United States may file an application to change their status to L-2.
However, if you are in the US under Visa Waiver Program, you cannot apply for changing status to L-1A or any other non-immigrant status. To get L-1A visa, you must go back to your home country and apply for visa stamp at the US Embassy or Consulate with a jurisdiction over your residence.
The L-1A petition must include documentation showing that:
(1) You have an L-1A job offer;
(2) The job offer is from a US company;
(3) The job offer is supported by a pre-approved L-1A petition submitted by the US company;
(4) The US company is either a branch office, or a subsidiary company, or a parent company, or a sister company, of a foreign company;
(5) In the past 3 years immediately before the submission of the L-1A petition, you had worked for the foreign company in a managerial or executive capacity for at least 1 year;
(6) The job duty at the US company is in managerial or executive nature, such as working as CEO, general manager, vice general manager, chairman of the board of directors, and the like;
(7) You are qualified for the offered job by virtue of experience and other qualifications;
(8) The US Company has sufficient financial ability to pay you the offered salary.
Warning: Before the L-1A petition is approved by the USCIS, you are not allowed to work for the employer.
Your non-immigrant status is changed to L-1A as soon as the L-1A petition is approved. Although you will work for the employer in the U.S. in L-1A status, this status is not the same thing as L-1A visa stamp. If you plan to travel to another country, you should prepare the visa application package, so that you may apply for L-1A visa stamp before you return to the U.S.
Without L-1A visa stamp in your passport, the immigration officer at the U.S. Custom may not allow you to enter the U.S. That will cause you a lot of inconvenience.
3. We help you to apply for permanent residence
Before you can apply for green cards in the United States, your employer must first file an immigration petition on your behalf and the petition must be approved.
After the immigration petition is approved, you will need to wait for an immigrant visa number available for your category. As soon as the immigrant visa number is available, you, your spouse and your children younger than 21 years old can apply for adjustment of status for permanent residence.
At the time you file your application for adjustment of status, you and your spouse can also apply for (1) EAD, the employment authorization documentation, also called work permit, and (2) Advance Parole, also called international travel document.
Warning: Before your application for adjustment of status is approved, if you do not have a valid L-1A or L-2 visa stamp in the passport, you must apply for and receive an Advance Parole before your departure. Submission of the application for Advance Parole before the departure is not enough. If you left the U.S. before you received the Advance Parole, you may not be allowed to enter the United States.
MORE ABOUT L-1A:
The basic steps from L-1A visa to green card:
For international transferees in managerial or executive capacity, there are usually three steps to apply for permanent residence:
(1) Obtaining L-1A status,
(2) Getting the employer’s immigration petition for you approved, and
(3) Filing yours and your family's applications for adjustment of status.
We can help you to prepare the packages for your L-1A visa application and your family member's L-2 visa application in your home country.
We can help the US employer to prepare the L-1A petition on your behalf, and change your non-immigrant status to L-1A/L-2.
We can help the US employer to prepare the immigration petition on your behalf.
We can help you to apply for adjustment of status (i.e., the application for permanent residence) after the immigration petition is approved and the immigrant visa number is available for you.
We can help you to apply for travel documents (advance parole) and work permit (EAD) when, or after, your green card applications are filed.
We have over 12 years of experience of helping managers and executives in handling their legal matters in the United States.
“Can I change to a new employer?”
You may change to another employer while you are under L-1A status. However, before you start working for the new employer, the new employer must file a new L-1A petition on your behalf and the new L-1A petition must be approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Remember: Before the new L-1A petition is approved by the USCIS, you may not work for the new employer, and thus, you should not quit from the current employer that you are working for.
If you are not quite sure about this, please contact Leon E. Jew, attorney at law, at (510) 785-9588, or (510) 710-3539, or visa@dahyee.com
“Can I start a new business?”
We can help you to set up a new business while you are in the United States.
